Love forever: Taj and Bina. Telegraph picture

Patna, Feb. 13: Their love was not cultivated by the fertile benevolence of Facebook. But when Taajuddin Ansari met Bina for the first time, they both heard Amar Akbar Anthony’s hit number Humko tumse ho gaya hain pyar playing in their hearts.

It was 1977. The Manmohan Desai multistarrer was scorching the silver screen and the box office. India had just stepped from the Emergency horror into a brave new world. And Taajuddin, better known as Taj, a junior college student, and Bina, then a pupil of Notre Dame Academy, were wounded by the bittersweet arrows of Cupid.

Their love story, now in its 34th year, is no less exciting than a 70mm technicolor 70s-style blockbuster.

“Taj and I used to meet secretly. Patna was a rather orthodox society then. Going out as a couple was out of the question,” said Bina, recounting the heady feeling of the early days of their romance.

For youths today, all this may sound rather archaic, somewhat tinged with sepia. But love marriages were unheard of then. Nearly seven years after they first met did they dare to reveal their relationship to their families.

At first there was shock and awe. Tears and bitter scenes followed.

“My father was reluctant to give his nod. He was worried about the impact our relationship would have on my career. Taj’s parents were, however, convinced about his feelings for me,” said Bina.

The couple finally tied the knot in 1985 and have been living happily ever since.

Taj (53) feels the secret behind their peaceful cohabiting is mutual understanding and little compromises.

“Youths today have fast lives. They are too ambitious and restless. They are also too impatient in marital relationships. It takes time and hard work to make a marriage work,” said Taj.

He added: “Having casual relations between sexes is not a problem. But there should be limits.”

Taj also believes that parents are the best advisers when it comes to marriage.

Bina’s father is happy that he agreed to the marriage. “I was never against their marriage but my wife did not like the idea. For nearly seven years, there were reservations and misunderstandings in the family. Finally our relatives convinced my wife. I am proud of my daughter and son-in-law,” said Devi Prasad Lohiya, Bina’s father. Lohiya, a septuagenarian, is also proud of his two grandsons.

Love marriages may have been rare in the 1970s but love was not.

In 1979, passion kindled between Bunty and Lily, during a movie outing to Ashok Cinema.

Lily, a beautician, had come to Patna from Calcutta and rented rooms with a few friends in Bunty’s parents’ house in Srikrishna Nagar. Living in the same house (incidentally, the couple still live there) allowed them to meet frequently and cement their love for each other. But there was a twist in the kahani: Bunty’s parents were dead against the relationship.

“We knew we were made for each other. But our parents were against it. So we had to go against their wishes and got married in 1980,” said Lily.

Getting parental sanction, however, took a couple of months more and mediation by relatives. “Our relatives had to intervene before our parents would agree. Finally the formal and religious ceremonies were completed at Patna Sahib Gurudwara,” added Lily.

Even 30 years after marriage, Bunty swears by his love for Lily.

“Love is a beautiful thing. Marriage needs hard work and compromise. It may not be easy all the time. But love triumphs in the end,” said Bunty.